Galaxy S9 launch won’t happen as soon as rumors said it would

Some of the early Galaxy S9 rumors out there said Samsung may unveil the phone as soon as January, during next year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, as the South Korean giant is looking to launch an iPhone X rival as fast as possible. But Samsung apparently dismissed that kind of talk, saying that it’s “unlikely” to happen.

The news comes from The Korea Herald, which reports that Samsung is likely to unveil the phone either during the Mobile World Congress in February, or at its own press conference in March.

Samsung wanted to announce the Galaxy S8 at MWC 2017, many reports said, but had to postpone it to late March as it was still dealing with the aftermath of the Galaxy Note 7 recall. By returning to MWC next year, Samsung would be resuming its regular Galaxy S launch schedule. The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S7 were both announced at the same trade show in previous years.

The Herald says the phone is expected to feature a similar design and specifications to its predecessor, but it’ll come with upgraded functions. An Infinity Display design is expected, although the phone’s bezels are tipped to be even smaller that the S8. However, the display won’t have any novel features like an embedded fingerprint sensor. “It is highly unlikely for Galaxy S9 to have an in-display fingerprint scanner as the technical challenges are still left unaddressed,” a source familiar with the matter said.

Finally, the Galaxy S9 is expected to have a dual-lens camera on the back, although the story doesn’t say whether both Galaxy S9 models will get it. An earlier report said that only the Plus smartphone will have a dual camera, while the regular S9 will have a single-lens shooter.